Drive-by help: Warming Hearts in Need helps Yreka's homeless

The term “drive-by” may have negative connotations in many areas, but for LeeAnn McDonald and Berta Salazar-Hagerty, it is the perfect description of their method of distributing helpful items to the homeless.

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By David Smithdsmith@siskiyoudaily.com

Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

By David Smithdsmith@siskiyoudaily.com

Posted Jan. 30, 2014 at 9:39 AM

By David Smithdsmith@siskiyoudaily.com

Posted Jan. 30, 2014 at 9:39 AM

The term "drive-by" may have negative connotations in many areas, but for LeeAnn McDonald and Berta Salazar-Hagerty, it is the perfect description of their method of distributing helpful items to the homeless.

The two women started Warming Hearts in Need in November 2012, and since then they have been handing out "WHIN-Go bags" full of hygiene products, warm clothing and other goods to people living on the streets.

"We don't have an agenda," Salazar-Hagerty said Wednesay morning. "We're just out there to make things better."

WHIN has experienced a great deal of help from the community in the form of donations, something the women attribute to the casual nature of the cause.

"You don't have to join a group," Salazar-Hagerty said, and McDonald added, "Everyone can do something."

Both expressed a great deal of gratitude to local business owner Paul McCoy for his efforts to support WHIN.

Both said that they feel there is something powerful that draws people to help someone they see out in the streets with little to protect them from the elements.

It was not apparent at first how things would go, McDonald said. "I will admit going into it I was a cynic, but you can't explain the feeling you get when you help someone," she said.

The WHIN women have met their share of people who remain cynical about helping the homeless, but it has not repressed their giving spirit.

Both women attribute their passion and energy for the project to their backgrounds in education, and have even met some of the people they knew as students.

"I love that we do this," Salazar-Hagerty said.

With a new group meeting on homeless issues, WHIN has been bolstered by like-minded individuals. Local entrepreneur and artist Rajiv Hotek has his own "drive-by" method for delivering help to the homeless, something the women did not even know.

"We're on the front lines with Rajiv," Salazar-Hagerty said. She added that they combat negative attitudes with work that helps. "There are enough discouragers, we need encouragers," she said.

Anyone interested in donating to Warming Hearts in Need can go to the Facebook page of the same name or send an email to warmingheartsinneed@gmail.com to set up a meeting.